Gaze eyes a British empire

By ANNE GIBSON

Former Auckland property developer David Gaze is about to start building £14.5 million ($40 million) worth of student accommodation units in Britain and is investigating opportunities in the Baltic states.

Gaze, who built Grey Lynn's 93-unit Summerfield Villas residential complex, is developing blocks of between 80 and 150 student apartments in Bristol and Leeds but he is also considering residential opportunities in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

Gaze said he and his family moved to London two years ago partly for education purposes and bought a 130-year-old, five-bedroom house in Dulwich Village which they have renovated, flying two New Zealand builders there to do the job.

Gaze set up offices at Berkeley St in London and has a staff of four, including three New Zealanders. There, his monthly expenses are £3000 for the office, £400 for a carpark and £100 for traffic congestion charges.

He initially investigated the feasibility of commercial development work in London but said the returns did not justify the investment.

He cited an occupiers' survey published in the March 5 issue of Britain's propertyweek which showed falling office costs in the city and docklands area, and desperate landlords offering rent-free periods of 30 months, up from the 24 months on offer in July last year.

Gaze turned instead to Leeds and Bristol because of their good universities, excellent infrastructure, strong demand and a good workforce.

"More and more people are getting away from London because of the traffic congestion and the threat of terrorism," Gaze said when in Auckland on Friday.

"The apartments will be standalone high-security units selling for £80,000 to £90,000 each and only 35 sq m to 40 sq m."

Gaze, who has two staff members investigating property investment in the Baltic states, cited the increasing wealth of Latvians and rising home ownership levels as an indication of residential opportunities there.

Rural land cost €36 ($68) a hectare in Latvia.


Gaze has also set up an organic food business in Britain, Patisserie Organic. It has a factory at Kentish Town and produces organic, gluten-free, vegan and sugarless foodstuffs. He said it distributed products to 150 shops in London and Bristol.

Gaze sold his Auckland house when he shifted to London but retains Bay of Islands vineyard Omata Estate via his company Omata Retreat.

His Summerfield Villa residential development in Auckland was one of the first large-scale multi-unit housing projects to suffer weathertightness failures, but Gaze said that before any litigation was launched, his company paid "a six-figure sum" for extensive repairs, carried out by Mainzeal Construction.

He was praised by Summerfield Villa residents at the time.

D. Kelly wrote to the Herald in November 2002 citing "the honourable and, yes, compassionate actions of our Summerfield Villas developer, David Gaze, and Mainzeal Construction who are remedying our problem at their expense ... setting a shining example to other developers, builders and construction companies."

Gaze has a property presence in Auckland via his interior design company Gaze Commercial, which has an Ellerslie office.

Gaze properties

* Developed 93-unit Summerfield Villas in Grey Lynn, Auckland. Gaze paid "a six-figure sum" for repairs to stop leaks.

* Bought a partly built Hobson St motel in front of the Central Police Station, Auckland, but sold it less than 18 months later without developing the property.

* Developed six-level Newmarket mirror-glass tower, since demolished to make way for mall.

* Started building business, Gaze Construction, using staff from the failed Hartner Construction.